Analytics comes to IT service management

ManageEngine, a division of Zoho, is looking to leverage its IT management domain expertise to offer a self-service IT analytics solution to help IT better utilize the data it generates.

Inside look at ITSM

Iyengar says that ManageEngine's domain expertise in IT management is what sets Analytics Plus apart from other analytics and visualization solutions. He points to Analytics Plus for ITSM, the flagship of the company's self-service IT analytics offerings as proof.

It service management (ITSM) and the IT service desk have become the cornerstone of IT strategy over the past several years, helping organizations deliver high-quality IT services efficiently. Improving IT service delivery and efficiency requires even better ITSM processes, Iyengar says. And improving those processes requires analyzing data from service desk tools.

A service desk manager could use Analytics Plus for ITSM to analyze trends on incoming tickets, see how many are resolved, what service desk utilization trends look like and more.

"How quickly are you able to turn around and resolve tickets?" Iyengar asks. "What are the trends? Is responsiveness increasing? These are all use cases that would be important for any IT decision makers to understand."

It could also provide meaningful insight in other areas. If an organization provides employees with cell phones, it could use the solution to gain insight into the different phone models employees ask for. The data could be used to more effectively negotiate with phone vendors.

Beyond this initial offering, Iyengar says ManageEngine plans to expand Analytics Plus with more capabilities in the areas of ITSM analytics, IT operational analytics and IT security analytics, as well as advanced analytical capabilities such as predictive analytics. The solution will also grow to support ManageEngine and non-ManageEngine tools and products that are used by IT teams.

Analytics Plus is currently in beta. It will be licensed based on the number of users accessing it and will be available in two editions. The Personal edition will be free to use and the Professional edition will stat at an annual subscription cost of $1,995 per year, which includes two users and comes with a free, 30-day trial. Additional users will be priced under $200 per user, per year. The company says perpetual buyout license and OEM white-label options are also available.